Wolves Women Go Close At Keele

Wolves Women marked the official announcement of their new home ground at Hednesford Town by attending Tuesday’s men’s Under-21 friendly at Keys Park.

Players Jordan Timmins-Ray and Louise Price are joined on the picture by Hednesford’s Danny Glover Scott Smith and Kris Taylor, ahead of the team making the stadium their new home for the 2014/15 season.

The team’s fixtures are now available on the FA website (Click Here) while their first game is at home to Derby County on August 24th (2pm), with admission £2.50 or £1.50 for concessions.

There is the chance first to try out Hednesford with a pre-season friendly against Mansfield Town on Sunday, August 17th. Kick off is also 2pm and admission will be free.

The Women enjoyed a good pre-season workout at the annual Keele tournament last weekend, reaching the final before ultimately suffering a repeat of last year’s defeat to Stoke City.

Day one saw comfortable wins for a young Wolves squad, featuring a mix of Under 18’s, Reserves and a handful of first-team players.

The opening game against Falkirk saw a resounding 5-0 win, with Dani Selmes and new signing Abi Hinton grabbing a brace apiece. Returning left-back Jen Anslow fired in from 30 yards to mark a successful return to action after two years away.

The last game of the day saw a tighter affair, with Selmes and Hinton grabbing a goal each against Old Actonians to send Wolves top of the group.

Day Two saw Wolves win both of their remaining group games to top their group and progress to the semi-finals.

The first game saw Dani Selmes scored twice before Liverpool Marshall Feds pulled a goal back from a set-piece as Wolves struggled to recreate their fluidity from the first day.

The final group game saw Wolves improve and find their rhythm against Curzon Ashton, with Selmes and Hinton firing in before half time.

The second half saw Lauren Williams rifle in from 25 yards to make it 3-0, before a defensive error allowed Curzon back into the game. Selmes fired in to make it 4-1, before youngster Charlotte Jones scored her first senior goal to wrap up the game for Wolves.

The semi-final against Crewe was close, with Wolves conceding early from a corner.

Wolves continued to play their own game, applying pressure, and got their reward on the stroke of half time, as Dani Selmes won a penalty which she then converted. Hinton notched her fifth goal of the tournament from close range with ten minutes remaining to send Wolves through to the final.

A repeat of last year’s final saw Wolves face Stoke City. Wolves began nervously, looking fatigued and careless in possession, and the Stoke pressure lead to a free-kick which ex-Wolves player Jamilla Palmer curled into the bottom corner of the net.

Wolves struggled to keep the ball and create chances, but reached half-time and changed formation to help retain possession. The change worked, with Wolves now able to match Stoke, but things took a turn for the worse when Frankie Waltho was shown a straight red card for a foul committed as the last defender.

Wolves valiantly competed with City, and were rewarded in the dying seconds when a corner was forced over the line by Lauren Williams to force penalties.

Wolves had the chance to win the shootout but Abi Hinton was denied, and Stoke went on to win, as Jen Anslow missed in sudden death.

It was a painful exit at the end for Wolves, but there are plenty of positives to take from the weekend.

They didn’t lose any of their games in normal time and conceded just four goals in six games, scoring 17 in the process. Wolves will now use this as a platform to build upon as the new season approaches.